CATV systems continue to be plagued with service quality problems resulting from loose connections. For the most part, these connectors are loose because they were not installed to the proper torque, which can occur for a number of reasons from laziness, a lacking of training, and improper use of/inadequate tools. An improperly installed connector will result in poor signals, because there are gaps between the devices, resulting in a leak of radio frequency (“RF”) signal.
As an example, a cable port is used to transfer an RF signal to a coaxial cable that transmits the signal to video equipment, such as a television. The coaxial cable has, attached to its terminal end, a female cable connector, which is used to house the cable and assist its connection to a cable port. The connector contains a nut that engages the cable port and advances the connector with a coaxial cable to the port. In this instance, the cable connector nut is used to hold two mating surfaces, the cable port and the cable connector housing the coaxial cable. If these two surfaces are not tightly connected, a gap will exist creating a loss in RF signal, resulting in lower quality cable signal.
Improvements on coaxial cable connectors have been proposed to deal with such a problem. An example of such an improvement on a connector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,716,062 (Palinkas, et al.), the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. In this patent, a spring element is incorporated to a traditional coaxial cable connector, under a nut element and beneath the flange portion of a post member. The spring biases the connector face towards a port after the nut is rotated around the connector a certain number of times. While this device is effective, it requires time and cost in the manufacturing process of the connector.
In addition, in high density urban CATV systems, it is often common practice to place equipment, such as taps, based on the total housing density instead of the actual subscriber density. In some countries, such as Great Britain, this is required by law, resulting in 100 taps installed for a 100-dwelling apartment building even if there are only 30 CATV subscribers. As a result, it is not unusual for there to be unused ports, particularly in systems with low penetration. When unused ports are left unterminated, or are terminated with port connectors which are easily left loose by the installer, or which become loose with the vibrations common to an urban environment, significant degradation to CATV service occurs.